The invention relates to a ribbon or flat electrical transmission cable of the woven type which has woven shielding woven in preselected portions of the cable.
Heretofore, flat woven electrical transmission cable has been provided which includes a plurality of signal conductors arranged generally in a side by side manner extending longitudinally throughout the woven cable. In many applications it is desirable to provide shielding for the cable to reduce interference with the signals being transmitted over the signal conductors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,211 discloses a woven jacket assembly for encasing a woven electrical transmission cable which includes a metallic shield carried within the woven cover for shielding. U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,314 discloses a shielded woven cable assembly and method of making the assembly wherein a plurality of drain wires are interwoven and floated out of a base weave pattern to provide instantaneous and continuous draining of a conductive shield material which encases the woven cable. Again, the woven shield material is an aluminum or other suitable foil wrapped around the cable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,042 discloses a woven electrical transmission cable of the ribbon type wherein the conductors are fixed in the woven pattern of the cable, and the cable is woven using metalized or conductive fibers to form an effective shield around and between certain conductors. This provides a highly flexible and effective shielding, however, shielding provided between the conductors is minimal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,820 discloses a ribbon electrical transmission cable assembly, with multiple cable layers separated by a conductive shield, and surrounded by an outer wrapped shield and elastomeric cover. However, little, if any, shielding occurs between adjacent conductors. The assembly is also expensive due to the large amounts of material needed to construct and shield the cable. This also makes the assembly heavy for many aerospace applications.
Accordingly an object of the invention is to provide a flat woven electrical transmission cable having a plurality of conductors arranged side by side which are shielded in a more effective and versatile manner.
Another object of the invention is to provide a woven electrical transmission cable having a plurality of signal conductors which are arranged in a spaced relationship across the width of the cable and fixed with conductive warp elements extending between adjacent conductors and woven with said conductors in a woven pattern to fix the relationships.
Another object of the invention is to provide a woven cable having a plurality of signal conductors arranged in a generally side by side arrangement, and between adjacent conductors warp and weft yarns consisting of metalized or conductive fibers are woven in different patterns to provide shielding over selected portions of the cable in generally lightweight embodiment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a wide, flat woven electrical transmission cable having a plurality of conductors arranged generally side by side in a spaced relationship wherein a woven cover shield is woven over reverse sides of the cable at selected portions so that cable may be folded and stacked upon itself with shielding between stacked layers.
Another object of the invention is to provide an electrical transmission cable having woven shielding as its outer cover.
Another object of the invention is to provide a light weight electrical transmission cable which is effectively shielded.